


Teddy Bear

by cornflakes_canvas



Series: Just Say The Word [4]
Category: Bastille (Band)
Genre: Children, Cute, First Kiss, Fluff, Kindergarten, M/M, Nursery, One Shot, One Shot Collection, One Word Prompts, School, Short, Teachers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 01:04:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornflakes_canvas/pseuds/cornflakes_canvas
Summary: “Danny's got a cru-ush ...”





	Teddy Bear

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt based on the word Teddy Bear. This is short and cute and hopefully somewhat enjoyable.  
> Thank you for reading and please feel free to send me new one word prompts! <3

Dan had worked at the nursery of Stave Hill Primary School in South London for nearly five years and he bloody loved it.

 

His days were typically composed of a crazy, colourful jumble of rainbow crayons, catchy alphabet songs, sloppily painted papier-mâché figurines and shatterproof tableware in the play kitchen, where the kids pretended to cook the most scrumptious meals by confidently chucking a single plastic tomato in a miniature frying pan.

Even if the children recurrently captured their teacher in less than flattering portraits and covered the entire classroom with glitter, cried and screamed and fell asleep in odd places, and pulled and pulled on Dan's clothes until they looked like they were made for someone twice his size – he wouldn't have it any other way.

 

The wholeheartedness and unpredictable, jovial madness of Dan's work routine was improved immeasurably when one of his dear colleagues went on maternity leave, recruiting in her stead one tall, bearded and handsome Kyle Simmons (or _Mr Kyle_ as Dan had to call him, since last names were not a concept the kids were willing to acknowledge just yet).

 

The younger man worked very hard; filling this position, albeit temporarily, was a dream come true for him. The exaltation sparking unmistakably from his kind eyes spread like wildfire and soon, the children claimed him as their own.

Dan loved watching Kyle interact with them – reading stories, running around the playground ecstatically, or, as he frequently was, hunched over a tiny table, taking discreet pretend-sips from a floral teacup he was sharing with the school mascot Flapjack, a teddy bear in adorable orange dungarees.

 

“Mh,” Kyle hummed in a deep, sonorous voice, drawing the syllable out dramatically, “this tea is absolutely _delicious_ , darling!”

Dan laughed to himself quietly, leaning against the arts and crafts table, the apron around his hips covered in green paint, and watched the scene unfold in front of him, when the enthusiastic three-year-old Emma whose spouse Kyle was supposed to pretend to be, poured him his fourth cup of strawberry tea, expecting the same gushing reaction she had elicited from the man the first three times. She was not disappointed and Dan couldn't stop smiling until he felt a presence behind his back and heard one of his colleagues sing-song in a playful tone: “Danny's got a cru-ush ...”

 

And Dan didn't deny it. He could barely remember what it had been like before Kyle had tumbled into his life one morning, struggling not to trip over the flock of giggling children streaming into the classroom as he shouted an exhilarated “Morning! I'm Kyle, nice to meet you!”

 

That summer, the day of the yearly school run (an opportunity to raise funds for new kitchen equipment or to fix that nasty roof leak in the entrance hall) seemed to approach more quickly than usual and Dan was absolutely dreading it. He wasn't going to be an arsehole and not participate just because he was uncoordinated and had no stamina whatsoever, but he was still going to take the liberty of being secretly bitter about it.

 

Although the kids appeared to be highly animated, and even though seeing Kyle turn up on the school grounds in shorts and a washed-out _Star Wars_ T-shirt eased the pain ever-so-slightly, Dan still felt like he was dying fifteen minutes into the run – his legs were weak and wobbly, his lungs ached for air, he felt the blood drain from his face, and seeing as he was fairly certain he was going to faint if he didn't stop, Dan excused himself and skulked off under the scrutinising glare of the PE teacher.

 

He shuffled to his classroom, collapsed on a small wooden bench and glanced at the many abstract paintings plastering the walls, the dozens of mostly dried-out felt tips overcrowding every available former honey jar and at Flapjack the teddy, who sat on a corner of the teacher's desk and stared at him with his shiny black eyes.

Dan tried to catch his breath, cursing himself over and over for being in such bad shape. He jumped when the door opened and his heart fluttered playfully when Kyle came into view, concern clear on his features.

 

“Here you are.” He exhaled. “Been looking for you.”

 

He left the door slightly ajar and settled down next to Dan, dipping his head to catch the other's eye.

“You alright? You look kinda pale.”

 

Dan cleared his throat. “Yeah, I'm okay. Just needed a break. I'm afraid I'm embarrassingly unathletic.” He laughed, but it sounded strained.

 

“Thank fuck,” Kyle huffed and Dan furrowed his brow.

“You're already brilliant at everything, I think it would break me if you turned out to be an athlete as well,” he said and Dan became hyper-conscious of his accelerating heartbeat.

 

Kyle smiled adoringly, his chocolate eyes melting into Dan's yearning gaze. He raised a tentative hand, traced the line of Dan's jaw with his fingertips, smoothed a thumb over his chin, his lips. His eyes returned to Dan's and he leaned in, rubbing their noses together affectionately, his left hand resting on the side of Dan's neck.

And finally, he closed the distance between them until their lips collided softly. They broke apart, admired each other, took a short moment to welcome what was happening between them, then resumed the kiss with growing courage.

After a few minutes of making out like bloody teenagers, Dan could hear the crowd outside the building cheer for whoever had crossed the finish line, and the timing was so ridiculously perfect that he started laughing into the kiss and Kyle couldn't help but laugh with him, and what might have been awkward felt like the most instinctive act in the world.

 

After granting himself a minute to calm down, his legs now shakier than before, Dan straightened out his clothes and glanced at Kyle, who was regarding him with a marvelling smile, nudging Dan's shoulder with his own and holding his hands gently, as if he was hesitant to let himself believe in the reality of the situation.

 

“Alright?” Kyle asked, the question seeming to imply so much more than it revealed, and Dan nodded with a bashful smile.

They got up, deciding that their absence might potentially put the other teachers in a suspecting mood soon, and Kyle lead Dan towards the door by his hand, subtly pointing at Flapjack on the way out.

 

“Ever heard of those hidden cams people put in teddies to spy on the babysitter?” he asked and raised a meaningful eyebrow, nodding conspiratorially.

 

Dan pulled a face and Kyle turned towards the cute teddy with the soulless beady eyes, smiling and whispering “Hope you enjoyed yourselves.”

 

And Dan laughed so hard he very nearly walked into the doorframe.

 


End file.
